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THE GERMA N WAR RESOLUTION 

Let us give notice to the world that in this Republic of ours at 
least that we are all American citizens of equal rank, character, 
and quality, whether that citizenship be lately acquired or 
whether it be by birthright, and that in the defense of our flag 
and country we recognize no distinction of wealth or position; 
and that we shall be guided in our actions with the one common 
thought of victory in the conflict that we are now entering. 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. ISAAC SIEGEL 

OF NEW YORK 
IN THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 1917 




90848—17203 



WASHINGTON 

1917 



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2 1917 



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SPEECH 

OF 

HON.ISAAC S I E G E L 



The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union 
had under consideration the joint resolution (S. J. Res. 1) declaring 
that a state of war exists between the Imperial German Government 
and the Government and the people of the United States and making 
provision to prosecute the same. 

Mr. SIEGEL. Mr. Chairman, on March 1 I voted for the 
armed-ship resolution. I pointed out then that under international 
law and under the very terms of the treaty existing between the 
United States and Germany we were acting strictly within our 
rights. I expressed the hope that the effect of the passage 
of the resolution might he the means of saving us from being 
participants in the most terrible conflict that man has witnessed. 
It is, however, now evident that merely arming our ships is of 
no avail. At the very moment that the President was delivering 
his message came the news that the Aztec, supposedly pro- 
tected by having naval guns and gunners on board, had been 
torpedoed at night without warning and a number of American 
citizens killed. Is there any Representative here who can truly 
deny that the German Government has committed many wrong- 
ful acts against our people; that it has tried to create trouble 
for us with Japan and Mexico; that it has permitted its sub- 
marines to torpedo our vessels, killing Americans regardless of 
whether they were men, women, or children and, according to 
its own announcement, is prepared to sink American ships on 
their way to Europe and return without notice and without 
warning, whether in the restricted area or without? 

Let me call your attention to an additional fact, not generally 
known. At my request we sent the cruiser Des Moines and 
the collier Caesar to Alexandria, from which port they were to 
proceed to Beirut to rescue about 1,000 women and children in 
order to have them reembark in Spain for the United States. 
Does Germany guarantee the safety >)f these American women 
and children? No. She declines to expressly guarantee their 
safety from attack by her submarines. I have been repeatedly 
asked for months whether this intolerable condition was to be 
endured forever. Let me say to the credit of the men in the 
Department of State that they have begged and beseeched for 
action. They have shared our belief that Americans abroad 
must be protected. Weighing all these facts, is there any man 
who can upon his conscience say that these acts do not consti- 
tute war? It does not require any legal acumen or stretching 
of the reasoning powers to immediately reach that conclusion. 
What more shall we allow Germany to do before recognizing 
the true state of affairs? 

The lives of our citizens have been systematically taken from 
us, our commerce has been violently interfered with, and our 
rights as men and citizens have been trampled upon. History 
will record that we were extremely patient under these most 
trying circumstances. The mission of the United States is 
peace. I have come from a people that for thousands of years 

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have been taught to love peace. I can not shut my eyes or 
close my ears to the fact that, though we cry peace, Germany 
answers by warring against us. 

No man who will cast his vote here to-day has given more 
consideration and deliberate thinking to this most serious prob- 
lem than I have. I shall not hide the fact that I have spent 
several sleepless nights pondering over what was the best course 
to pursue in this great crisis. My final decision was greatly 
strengthened by these words of Col. Roosevelt: 

We are the citizens of a mighty Republic consecrated to the service 
of God above, through the service of man on this earth. We are the 
heirs of a great heritage bequeathed to us by statesmen who saw with 
the eyes of the seer and the prophet. We must not prove false to the 
memories of the Nation's past. We must not prove false to the fathers 
from whose loins we sprang, and to their fathers, the stern men who 
dared greatly and risked all things that freedom should hold aloft an 
undimmed ton h in this wide land. They held their worldly well- 
being as dust in the balance when weighed against their sense of high 
duty, their fealty to lofty ideals. Let us show ourselves worthy to be 
their sons. Let us care, as is right, for the things of the body ; but 
let us show that we care even more for the things of the soul. Stout 
of heart and pledged to the valor of righteousness, let us stand four- 
square to the winds of destiny, from whatever corner of the world they 
blow. Let us keep untarnished, unstained, the honor of the flag our 
fathers bore aloft in the teeth of the wildest storm, the flag that shall 
float above the solid files of a united people, a people sworn to the 
great cause of liberty and of justice, for themselves, and for all th<* 
sons and daughters of men. 

That there is no other alternative is now being recognized 
by all men who have the best interests of the Nation at heart, 
and although they may have heretofore differed regarding the 
policy to be adopted with Germany, they are now united, and 
one striking example of that is shown in the attitude of the 
New York American, which yesterday printed a long editorial 
upholding the President and closing with these words : 

The American has stood for the postponement of war to the last 
possible moment of postponement. The President has declared con- 
vincingly that the last moment has passed. 

We are now for the strongest and most effective war that it is 
possible for our great Nation to make. 

When the President, with all the information that we can have and 
with other information that we can not have, solemnly declares that 
the German Government means to make war upon us at a moment 
which will be most opportune for it, the only possible course of sense 
and safety is for us to make war at the moment which is most op- 
portune for us. 

That strategic moment is now. 

War it is. So be it ! Let us make ready with all possible haste, 
counting no cost, to wage a powerful war, an overwhelming war, a 
war that will bring victory to our standards and, please God, uni- 
versal freedom and permanent peace to the inhabitants of the world. 

Mr. Chairman, the American Hebrew of this w T eek will contain 
the following editorial statement by Herman Bernstein : 

Not with hatred, nor with malice, not with vengeance nor with 
greedy lust for greater power, is the United States entering the war. 

America goes into the war for the sake of peace, for the sake of 
establishing a lasting universal peace based upon justice, liberty, and 
equality. 

America now takes its place beside the democracies of the world 
against the autocracy which has deliberately misled even its own people 
into this universal slaughter. 

America is entering the war for the purpose of liberating the world 
from the menace that is threatening the peace of the democratic lands 
on both sides of the Atlantic. 

By defending the rights of America she will also protect the rights of 
mankind everywhere. 

Our great peace President has exhausted every means at his com- 
mand to bring about peace among the warring nations ; he has been 
supremely patient, strong, and energetic in his efforts to end the Euro- 
pean catastrophe 
90848—17203 



Now, the cup of patience is full. The head of the American people 
can no longei tolerate the German policy of duplicity and subterfuge, a 
policy which has meant the killing of innocent babies and women, of the 
destruction of the lives of noncombatants without any warning upon the 
seas, the spreading of hatred, and the stirring of nation against nation — 
the policy pursued by the Kaiser's Go\ eminent systematically, delib- 
erately, and efficiently. 

America is entering this war with clean hands and a clear conscience, 
with the highest purpose and the loftiest ideals for which men ever shed 
their blood. 

America is entering the strussle to war on war, to war on the forces 
that stand in the way of the liberation of the world, to war on a system 
that in its blind arrogance is sacrificing millions of human lives even 
now that Germany's alleged excuse for the war is removed by the over 
throw of the Russian autocracy. 

The unprecedented sacrifices made in this war have already been 
partly justified by the liberation of the Russian people. 

Russia has become a democracy before America enters this war, so 
that now we can throw our powers on the side of the democracies for 
the liberation of the world, the emancipation of the peoples, for a last- 
ing peace. 

The freeing of mankind from a system that, through mere caprice or 
whim, can hurl millions of human beings into slaughter, is the only jus- 
tification for America to enter the war. Such a cause is worthy of our 
greatest sacrifices. 

It is hardly necessary to say that the Jews of America love America 
and her ideals with an undivided love. 

I feel certain that American Israel is ready for any sacrifices the 
American people may be called upen to make for the sake of American 
rights, for the sake of justice, liberty, and equality. 

We are entering this war without a desire of spoils or conquest, 
and the spirit is best exemplified by the words of Abraham Lin- 
coln, when said : 

The issue before us is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It is an issue 
which can only be tried by war and settled by victory. The war will 
cease on rbe part of this Government whenever it shall have ceased 
on the part of these who began it. * * * We accepted war rather 
than let the Nation perish. With malice toward none, with charity 
for all. with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, 
let us strive on to finish the work we are in. and to do all which may 
achieve a just and lasting peace* among all nations. 

Mr. Chairman, whether one is in private or public life he must 
be imbued with the idea that his duty to his country is para- 
mount and above all other considerations. During this week 
intimations have come to me that political expediency required 
me to cast my vote against this resolution, and that contrary 
action on my part would mean a general effort from now on to 
end my congressional career. If such it be, I shall at no time 
regret having performed the duty that I had hoped would never 
fall to my lot. I would be unworthy of American citizenship 
were I to be deterred from acting by such warnings. 

Mr. Chairman, I believe that I know the citizenship of my 
congressional district far better than the gentlemen who have 
seen fit to tell me what is going to occur there. I know that the 
twentieth congressional district is just as loyal and just as de- 
voted to American institutions and our country as any in the 
whole of the United States. The records of the War Depart- 
ment and of the Navy show that this district has more than 
furnished its quota in times of peace, and when the clarion 
note of duty is sounded by Congress and the President that it 
will not fail the Nation in its day of need. 

I say to my colleagues who are now hesitating as to what 
they shall do that by their acts the people will know whether 
they are for this great land of freedom and religious liberty 
or whether they are going to be guided simply by the selfish 
question as to whether they will obtain more votes in 191 S by 
standing on the side of our foe. I say to them that the time 
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6 

has arrived for American citizens to realize that with the 
common benefits and opportunities which this great and pros- 
perous country affords them comes the common duty and obli- 
gation to serve it in every way in its hour of danger. Let us 
give evidence to the world that we are united and standing 
shoulder to shoulder, prepared to make those sacrifices which 
a free people are called upon to do, to sustain their very exist- 
ence as a nation. It is not a time for hesitancy. It is a time to 
go forward, placing reliance in God, who is the final arbiter of 
the destinies of both nations and men. [Applause.] 

Lei us give notice to the world that in this Republic of ours at 
least that we are all American citizens of equal rank, character, 
and quality, whether that citizenship be lately acquired or 
whether it be by birthright, and that in the defense of our flag 
and country we recognize no distinction of wealth or position; 
and that we shall be guided in our actions with the one common 
thought of victory in the conflict that we are now entering. Mr. 
Speaker, we shall not rest until we shall have achieved those 
objects which we are seeking, namely, the same equal rights for 
all men whether on land or on sea. God grant that the struggle 
may be short ; but, no matter how long it may last, let us con- 
stantly bear in mind that the duty of the hour requires us to 
be courageous and firm in our convictions that America is right, 
and " that wrong backed by might " must fail. 

Let me also add that I have many intimate friends and asso- 
ciates of German descent among the people of my city, and 
you will find them loyal in every respect. 

Mr. Chairman, I can not conclude without reading two poems 
which I hope will stir American youth into action. They are 
entitled — 

"I>ACII AMERICAN'S OFFERING." 

[By Calvin Dill Wilson, Glendale, Ohio.] 

Great land for which our fathers bled, 
That men might live with unbowed head, 
Now to thine altars, without price, 
I bring my all for sacrifice. 

For thee, America, I'd die 
And with thine elder soldiers lie ; 
That harm be far from thy blest shore 
I offer here my life and store. 

That thy pure flag be free from stain 
I'll stand where all the bullets rain. 
What is my life or what am I 
That I should fear for thee to die? 

Accept me in thine hour of need ; 
Give me the joy for thee to bleed ; 
Great mother, hear my earnest prayer 
And let me boldly do my share. 

Give me a heart, an iron will, 
That's worthy of the fathers still, 
As son of them who cast out kings 
And died that men be more than things. 

In thy wide bosom grant a grave, 
A resting place among the brave, 
And near thy heart, where heroes slept, 
That thou in hour of stress be kept. 

Avert, O God, the need of sword ; 
Hut, called, may I not shrink, O Lord. 
Forever, fronting both our shores, 
May taintless flag guard all. our doors. 

00848—17203 



"AMERICA, MY COUNTRY." 

[By Jens K. Grondahl.] 

America, my country, I come at thy call, 

I plight thee my troth and I give thee my all ; 

In peace or in war I am wed to thy weal, 

I'll carry thy flag through the fire and the steel ; 

On S'*a nor on land shall it suffer disgrace, 

Unsullieo it floats o'er our peaee-Ioving race ; 

In reverence I kneel at sweet liberty's shrine — 

America, my country, command, I am thine. 

America, my country, brave souls gave thee birth, 
Who yearned for a haven of freedom on earth, 
And when thy dear Pag to the winds was uufurled 
Tbcre came to thy shores the oppressed of the world ; 
Thy milk and thy honey flow freely for all — 
Who takes of thy bounty shn'l come at thy call, 
Who quaffs of thy nectar of freedom shall say, 
"America, my country, command, I obey." 

America, my country, thy flag I adore, 

It glories in peace but it fears not in war; 

When tyrants would trample its folds in the dust, 

Old <Hory, undaunted, is true to its trust ; 

Its stars ever twinkle from liberty's dome 

A message of hope to mankind through the gloom ; 

And children of men bless the red, white, and blue — ■ 

America, my country, the tried and the true. 

America, my country, now come is thy hour* — 
The Lord of Hosts recks on thy courage and power ; 
Humanity pleads for the strength of thy hand 
Lest liberty perish on sea and on land ; 
Thou guardian of freedom, thou keeper of right, 
When liberty bleeds there Is task for thy might ; 
"Divine right" of kings or our freedom must fall — - 
America, my country, I come at thy call. 
90848—17203 



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